29 December 2012

Sandkeks for Santa

Classic German Sandkeks, a hazelnut shortbread cookie with a sandy vanilla sugar coating were set out in the afternoon on Christmas Eve ... Santa had a chance to grab a few before dropping off the loot! The rest, we have been nibbling with cups of coffee and tea. These cookies are a perfect crumbling shortbread - not overly sweet except for the sandy outer sugar layer.

I learned to make them when SB and I lived in Germany for a bit. I got the recipe from a German Weihnachten cook book and made them for the kids when they all flew over to sprend Christmas with us in Baden-Württemberg. The recipe is as I worked with it from the German cook book except that I have added the maple extract drops ... the maple and hazelnut flavours complement each other perfectly. I apologize for the metric measurements. For the folks who don't have food scales, I can only encourage you to get one. It will open a whole new world of recipes. No more headaches doing the conversions to standard measurement!

At any rate, these cookies have become a favorite Christmas treat. They are such a nice reminder of that special time that we spent in Europe. I hope you enjoy them!